Jul 2, 2008 2:12 pm US/Pacific
Oakland Council Head: Edgerly Firing Long Overdue
OAKLAND (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ―
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Deborah Edgerly.
San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said Wednesday that he supported the decision to fire the city's embattled administrator, suspected of tampering with a police investigation, calling it "long overdue.''
Deborah Edgerly was fired Tuesday by Mayor Ron Dellums, just four days after she was put on paid leave by the mayor.
In a
letter Dellums sent to Edgerly, he said simply: "I have elected to terminate you, effective immediately.''
Edgerly was under fire over allegations that she interfered with a police investigation involving her nephew, who was among 56 suspected members of the notorious Acorn street gang arrested last month.
The firing of the 56-year-old Edgerly came after she had announced she would retire, but then said she would postpone her retirement.
Edgerly maintained she had done nothing wrong and her attorney, Doron Weinberg, disputed the firing saying, "she cannot be fired without an opportunity to respond and clear her name."
Speaking at a news conference on the steps of City Hall, De La Fuente said Oakland's city government must be changed because "we have seen the pain and the bleeding'' in the wake of allegations against Edgerly.
The council president said he wants Dellums to hire a new permanent city administrator "with a national reputation for excellence as soon as possible so that all Oaklanders can be sure their city is being well managed.''
De La Fuente said that in the near future he will introduce an ordinance to establish an anti-nepotism policy for the city and attempt to ensure accountability to city operations by conducting an audit of the city's hiring practices in the last two years.
"No more patronage system, nepotism or cronyism,'' he said.
Edgerly's arrested nephew, 27-year old William Lovan, is also an Oakland city employee.
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